Sunday, June 28, 2015

Latvian "Street Art" in Garezers

Last summer, while visiting Garezers for the GVV 50th anniversary weekend, I photographed a few other things to share with you in addition to photos of those events. Now that summer has arrived, and slightly over 100 North American teenagers are getting ready to attend GVV, it might be a good time to finally show you those photographs!

My dear friend Linda Treija has been teaching art to the Garezers' program participatns for quite a few years, and she continually comes up with wonderful public art projects for the students to work on. Below are three relatively small pieces, which, while not large in size, are quite powerful. For those familiar with GVV buildings, the first two are on Kronvalda zāle, while the third is on the wall of Vecā vidusskola.

A relatively new building in the GVV territory is Avoti, named after GVV's founding father Eduards Avots. The building contains classrooms, and the hallway has been beautifully decorated with an enormous mural featuring characters from Latvian literature and various famous authors. Piecinieki tiem, kuri visvairāk atpazīst! The mural was not quite complete when I visited, but it looked fantastic nonetheless, and I look forward to seeing the finished product. These kids have got some talent!

If you do visit Garezers (and don't have kids attending GVV) sometime this summer, I highly encourage you to venture past Dzintari, baznīca and kantīne to the GVV area to see this art in person. In addition to these pieces, there is a large older mural inside Kronvalda zale. It was completed in

If you do visit Garezers (and don't have kids attending GVV) sometime this summer, I highly encourage you to venture past Dzintari, baznīca and kantīne to the GVV area
to see this art in person. The other wonderful things to visit in the immediate vicinity that are well worth your time are three museums. If you think, how in the world can there be three museums in the middle of the Michigan woods, and you have never taken the time to them, then you have no idea what you're missing! The Klinklavs Art Gallery, located on the second floor of Kronvalda zāle, is home to the largest collection of Latvian art outside of Latvia, and will be hosting an amazing art market during Garezers' 50th anniversary celebration next week. The O. Grīns Folk Art Museum, located next to the art gallery in Kronvalda zāle, has a beautiful and impressive collection of folk costumes, knitted mittens, jewelry, and much more - some it recently crafted, while other pieces were brought to the U.S. from Europe by post-war refugees. The Latvian Boy Scout & Girl Guide Museum is the most recent addition, and exhibits information and artifacts reflecting the history of Latvian scouting. Bonus tip regarding visiting these spaces: they are air conditioned, which can bring welcome relief and respite on a hot summer's day!

About Me & the Blog

Letiņš is slang for a Latvian person, and ASV means USA. After growing up in a Latvian-American family in the American Midwest, I've been happy to call the Washington, D.C. area home for more than seventeen years. I love to travel and explore, and I love most things Latvian. This blog is where I share some of my adventures and thoughts with the world.

If you would like to contact me, you can do so by emailing DainaLatvian(at)gmail.com.